- Ford is recalling 85,238 Explorers fitted with the Police Interceptor Utility package.
- The 2020-2022 SUVs fitted with V6 gas and hybrid engines are at risk of catching fire if the engine fails.
- Consumer versions of the Explorer aren’t being recalled because they don’t tend to receive the same abuse.
Ford is recalling more than 85,000 police-spec Explorers because hot pursuits might get too hot and turn into full-blown engine fires.
A total of 85,238 Explorers built with the Police Interceptor Utility Package for the 2020 to 2022 model years are at risk of fire, though the probability is low enough that Ford stopped short of ordering police forces not to drive them.
Related: Ford Is Recalling Over 500 Explorer Police Vehicles Due To Screen Fault
All of the affected vehicles are fitted with Ford’s 3.3-liter combustion and hybrid V6 powertrains, and the automaker has discovered that those engines could fail prematurely. If that happens, there’s a chance that “significant quantities” of engine oil and fuel vapor might be released into the engine bay where it could come into contact with the hot exhaust and catch fire.
Ford first began investigating the problem in July 2023 after receiving three reports of Explorer Interceptors suffering under-hood fires. Fast forward a year and the log now included 13 instances of engine bay fires, each linked to an “engine block breach” in which a connecting rod made a speedy exit through the side of the crankcase, having fractured under load.
It’s worth noting that Ford already took action to improve the rod material back in June 2022 to reduce the rate of engine replacements, so the issue wasn’t totally unknown. And we should also make clear that while consumer versions of the Explorer are also equipped with the exact same powertrains, they’re not being recalled.
Ford says it’s received no reports of fires linked to engine failures in Explorers sold to the public because ordinary drivers don’t subject their SUVs to the same amount of wide-open throttle and maximum rev abuse that cops do.
Police drivers are being asked to look out for weird engine noises, power loss and smoke until Ford dealers get around to updating the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) software so that it can better alert drivers of impending engine doom. Service techs will also inspect the engines for rod bearing failure and replace the entire long block assembly if needed.
